CSC 290 Collaborative Software Engineering

Course Description

Running on low-cost, powerful computers, immense storage, and ubiquitous networks, a new generation of software has radically changed how information is distributed and accessed and is opening new possibilities in how (fast) knowledge is created and used. This revolution has been compared to the advent of printing, and the pertinent expertise and skill are considered as basic and essential as reading and writing.

This experimental course teaches principles and practices of collaborative software development. The topics include fundamentals of programming (more for organizing information than for managing computers), software engineering, scalable information systems, and current practice and tools for teamwork and virtual collaboration. The assignments are mainly a series of group projects designing and implementing from scratch web-based software including a wiki-like system that can be programmed to produce various web applications that are in common use today.